In 2006 at this event, Novak Djokovic reached his first Slam quarterfinal. 15 years and 18 Major titles later, the 34-year-old has become one of the greatest players of all-time. On Friday, in a fantastic semifinal, he became the only man to ever defeat Rafael Nadal twice at the French Open. A win today would pull him within one Major title of not only Nadal, but also Roger Federer. And it would make him the first man to win each Grand Slam tournament twice since Rod Laver in 1969.
In 2016 at this event, Stefanos Tsitsipas made his Slam debut. Five years and four Major semis later, the 22-year-old has reached his first Slam final. On Friday, he survived a dramatic five-set semifinal against Sascha Zverev. A win today would make him the youngest man to win a Major since Juan Martin Del Potro in 2009. And it would make him the first man to win in his first Grand Slam final appearance since Marin Cilic in 2014.
Also on Sunday, the women’s doubles championship will be decided, with the two most recent French Open women’s singles champions on opposite sides of the net.
Novak Djokovic (1) vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) – Not before 3:00pm on Court Philippe-Chatrier
Djokovic leads their head-to-head 5-2, and 3-0 on clay. After winning two of their first three encounters, Tsitsipas has now lost the last four. Last October in the semifinals of this tournament, Djokvoic was up two-sets-to-love when Tsitsipas came storming back to even the match, yet Novak closed out the fifth set decisively. They also met just a few weeks ago in Rome, where Djokovic won an extremely-tight three-setter, which took over three hours to decide, and was played over the course of two days.
The last time Djokovic defeated Nadal at Roland Garros, in 2015’s quarterfinals, he was upset in the championship match by Stan Wawrinka. Will Tsitsipas play the role of Wawrinka on Sunday? Both men played grueling matches on Friday, but Novak’s ended about five hours later, was over 30 minutes longer, and undoubtedly was more physically and emotionally draining. And Tsitsipas should fine some confidence in knowing his last two matches against Djokovic on clay have been anything but blowouts.
Novak is 18-10 in Major finals, with four of his losses coming in Paris. He will fully understand what a huge opportunity this is to win the French Open for a second time, after eliminating Rafa on Friday. I expect Djokovic to be much more prepared for this moment than he was six years ago against Wawrinka, and than Tsitsipas will be in his first Slam final. Novak Djokovic is a considerable favorite to win his 19th Major title.
Other Notable Matches on Sunday:
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova (2) vs. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Iga Swiatek (14) – Saturday was the biggest day of Krejcikova’s career, winning her first Major in singles. Less than 24 hours later, she looks to be a double champion. Her and Siniakova were two-time Slam winners in 2018. Swiatek was of course the champion here in singles last October, while Mattek-Sands has won all five women’s doubles finals she’s ever played at Majors, and all with her former partner, Lucie Safarova.
Sunday’s full schedule is here.
